Improve Your Comfort When You Do Adventure Riding

Proper gear is essential for any ride.

If you’re not 100 percent comfortable, you will lose focus. That’s when the stupid things happen.

Make sure the gear is comfortable both standing and sitting. The rest is up to your taste, and the seasons, in regards to ventilation and waterproofness, Make sure you have all the protective elements intact; trees don’t get out of the way. A note on boots; the grippier, the better, especially if conditions are wet from either rain or morning/evening fog.

Are your levers appropriately adjusted?

When you rest your fingers on the gears, the back of your hand should be in a straight line with your arm, so your wrists aren’t bent and putting Pressure on your nerves. For comfort, proper bike setup is everything. The key is to optimize controls for support while sitting or standing correctly. Position the clutch and brake levers slightly downward for optimized feel at the controls when standing.

Leaving just two fingers to operate the clutch gives you more control on steering inputs, and allows you to use the “friction zone” of the grip more— This means slipping the clutch to either garner or rob power. Utilizing the friction zone is an excellent tactic for things like riding over logs or rocks.

Body position is something every rider should practice

When standing, leaning your weight forward when ascending steep inclines will allow the bike to remain planted, and help with traction. When going downhill, bending rearward helps keep the pressure on the bike balanced.

For turns, you always want more weight up front to keep the front tire planted. If you’re sitting down, get as close forward as possible; if standing, lean a bit forward as this weights the front and keep the back loose for sliding out of a corner under throttle.

Don’t forget thingslike a tinted face shield for your helmet or sunglasses, earplugs, a bottle of water, aspirin, sunblock, etc. These things can significantly improve your comfort when you need them

These are some of the things we’ve learned, which we hope will be helpful for you to enjoy your ride more comfortable.